1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to the field of photovoltaic solar cell assemblies and arrays, and more particularly to multijunction solar cells based on III-V semiconductor compounds fabricated into interconnected Cell-Interconnect-Cover Glass (CIC) assemblies.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the prior art, a solar cell assembly normally comprises a solar cell for generating power from solar radiation, a cover glass for optical filtering and protecting the solar cells from external influences, such as radiation, air, dust or water, and adhesive layer for binding the cover glass to the solar cell and forming air-tight/liquid-tight seal therebetween. The term “panel” as used herein refers to any type of supporting or mounting member, whether flexible or rigid. In the usage of those in the field of solar cell panel design and fabrication, some may refer to a “panel” as a “substrate.” However, such usage should be distinguished from the usage of “substrate” in the semiconductor field in which “substrate” usually refers to bulk semiconductor material. Optionally, the solar cell panel has other components, such as bypass and blocking diodes, and interconnects for controlling the interconnection of groups of solar cells, a accumulator or power distribution hub for accumulating the power output from the individual or groups of solar cells, or a honeycomb member for supporting and strengthening the structure. The solar cell comprises thin-film semiconductor device with electrical terminals on the front and/or back side of the semiconductor substrate. Optionally, a plurality of solar cells can be disposed and interconnected as an array via wire and diodes, such that the area and the output voltage of the solar cell panel can be enlarged.
In prior art, when attaching the cover glass to the solar cell, opaque mechanical shims are used to support the cover glass on the solar cell, and then the adhesive layer is disposed between the solar cell and the coverglass, such that the thickness of the adhesive layer is determined by the opaque shims.
However, after the adhesive is cured, the opaque shims have to be removed. The disadvantages of this technique are that (a) removing the opaque shims was tedious and time consuming, and required back-filling the voids with fresh adhesive; (b) removing the opaque shims was mechanically disruptive and often damaged the solar cell panels by cracking the corners, resulting in scrapping those parts.
Thus, a solar cell assembly and the method for manufacturing such solar cell panel, which can overcome the above disadvantages, are needed in the art.